Improvement in processes for treating hemp



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS O. SUGGETT, OF SPRING DALE, KENTUCKY.

IMPROVEMENT IN PROCESSES FOR TREATING HEM P.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 10,968, dated May 23,1854.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lewis 0. SUGGETT, of the city of Lexington, in thecounty of Fayette and. State of Kentucky, have invented new and usefulimprovements in the process of manufacturing and preparing hemp andsimilar fibers preliminary to their conversion into yarn or cordage; andI do hereby declare the following specification to contain a full,clear, and exact description of the nature and operation thereof.

My improvements have for their object, first, the preservationunimpaired ot' the original maximum toughness and flexibility of thefibers during the processes of maceration and separation of the gum fromthelint; secondly, the acceleration of the process of cleaning anddetaching the harl or lintfrom the gum or floccula; thirdly, thethorough tarring, pitching, or oiling of the fibers, while in theseparate condition, as a preliminary to spinning, 85c.

The stage of growth of the hemp at which the stalk should be gathered topossess the maximum toughness, tenaeity,and pliahilityis usually fromseven to ten days before the ripening of the stalk, and the presentcustom of gathering it at the latter stage arises from the greaterliability to decay of the lint or fiber at the earlier stage of itsgrowth under the customary processes for dissolution and separationofthe albuminous and fiocculentsubstances which accompany and cementtogether the fibers; and it is also the case that the delay thusnecessitated very much increases the difficulty of separation, becausethe cementing qualities of the gum become of a much more tenacious andrefractory character as the stalk reachesthelaststagesofripening.Hempwhich has been sown in the latitude of Kentucky on about the firstof May I usually gather during the second and third weeks in July,depending of course on the season. and crop, the test being the firstappearance of lint on the stalk and a yellow tinge on thelatter. Theyare not, however, to be all gathered at once, but according to theirripeness. The stalks then, after having been passed between flutedrollers or sulficiently beaten to loosen the fibers, are immersed in asolution of common salt maintained at a temperature of about 70Fahrenheit. After six hours of maceration in the brine they aresubjected to the customary alkaline bath for about two hours, and thenwashed in soap-suds, and finally well rinsed in soft waterbefore dryingin the sun and air. The boon is then to be broken and dislodged from theharl in any approved way, and it it is desired to have the twine orcordage saturated with tar, pitch, or oil the hemp is at this stageboiled therein until the moisture has been thoroughly dissipated and thetar is in the most intimatejuxtaposition with every fiber. All thesuperfluous tar is then expressed by passingthehempbetween hot rollers.

Hemp made in this we y, being in uc'h cheaper than that prepared by themethods now practiced, can be advantageously mixed with the latter inweaving, &c., and the softness and sound condition of the fibers willgive to the goods a remarkable character for durability.

Having thus described the nature and operation of my invention, what Iclaim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-- 1.The application of common salt or other saline substance to the steepwater in order to enable the removal and separation of the gum at themost advantageous condition of the lint or harl in regard to toughnessand pliancy,

and before the induration of the gum about they

